Automatic cooking mechanism.



J. S. BAKER.

AUTOMATIC COOKING MECHANISM.

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witnesses.

J. S. BAKER.

AUTOMATIC COOKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY14,1913- ].,181 ,057. Patented Apr. 25, 1916 4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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J. S. BAKER. AUTOMATIC COOKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, 1913.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

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AUTOMATIC COOKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILD JULY 14. 191

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

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witnesses.

Jblzn J linker showing the remainder broken away to Show the interior s'ras PA OFFICE.

JOHN .S. BAKER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T BAKER- SHIPPEE MANU- FACTUBING 00., OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

AUT OMATI? COOKING MECHANISM.

Application filed July 14, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jon S. BAKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Cooking Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cooking and sterilizing apparatus, and has particular reference to mechanism for automatically cooking and sterilizing materials that have been already inclosed in cans or containers. I

it is an object of this invention to provide a mechanism in which one or more cans containing materials to be cooked can be passed through the same and automatically discharged therefrom wien the articles have bee cooked a desired length of time.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a machine of this class in which cans containing one kind of goods may be subjected to the cooking operation a given length of time, while cans containing another kind of goods which require a longer time for cooking may he placed, the different kinds of goods being discharged automatically at the proper time for limiting the cooking operation to the proper degree.

t is a further object of the invention to provide an automatic cooker having means for continuously advancing cans containing the materials to be cooked, through a heating chamber, and to provide spiral guide ways therein for facilitating the continuing of the cooking operation for varying lengths of time in accordance with the time required for cooking a given material. I

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification: Figure l is a side elevation of the improved automatic cooking apparatus forming the subject matter of the present invention, looking at the same from the side on which the actuating power mechanism is located. the central portions thereof being broken away. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the cooking apparatus showing the sam'eupon an enlarged scale. a part of the top of the machine being mecha- Fig. 3 is a similar top plan view of the machine, it being a continuation of the view shown in Fig. 2 and having the cover removed. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view ni sm.

Specificatihn of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916. Serial No. 778,927

taken through the cooking apparatus, the

central portions thereof being broken away. F 1g. 5 IS a partial transverse sectional view taken through approximately one half of the cooking apparatus on the line 55 of Fig. i. Fig. 6 is a partial transverse sectlonal view taken through approximately half of the apparatus on the line 66 of Fig. 4, a portion of the tracks for guiding the cans being shown in section. Fig. 7 is a detail view in top plan showing some of the alternately arranged levers for effecting the discharge of the cans from the machine by opening different switches in the spiral can way. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken to one side of one of said levers and showing the others behind the same, the spurs for operating the same being also shown. Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail perspective view of one of said spurs or arms shown in Fig. 8.

The details and features of the invention will now be more particularly described, reference being had to the said drawing in which 10 indicates a casing usually of an elongated flattype or may be cylindrical, as preferred, adapted to contain heated water. steam or hot air for heating purposes and adapted to inclose mechanism for advancing cans and directing them in their movement back and forth until the materials therein have been properly cooked. The said tank is usually made of sheet metal of any desired or necessary thickness and mounted upon standards or legs 11. The cover or top portions are inclined to facilitate the introducing and discharging of the articles to be cooked. Near the opposite ends of the casing it) and mounted transversely thereof are shafts l2 and 13, which engage bearings carried by the casing and which carry sprocket wheels 14 and 15 upon which endless chains 16 are mounted. The sprocket wheels are mounted near the sidewalls of the casing upon opposite sides thereof and the parallel sprocket chains 16 moving upon said wheels are connected at suitable intervals by transverse slats 17. These slats are carried by the chains in such a way as to advance the cans of material being cooked through the casing. Cooperating with the conveyor made of such chains and slats, are guiding rollers or bars upon which the cans containing the material to be cooked are placed and caused to travel or roll. The said guiding rails 18 forming the spiral can way will be understood wheel 'secured to the end of the shaft 12 which rojects u on that side of the machine. he sprocket wheel 38 is mounted in any suitable timing mechanism 41 for driving the feed wheels 35 and 36'at a suitable rate of speed. The mechanism of the timer does not form an part of the present invention and is there ore not shown or described. Since only a part of the gear wheel 38 projects from the timer however, an idler Sprocket 42 is mounted upon adjacent stub aft 43 secured to the casing and the ket chain passes around the same and me back to the rocket wheel 40. It that the speed of the wheels 35 and 36 may be timed in any suitable manner to deposit a desired number of cans of different sizes 11 on the guideways within the casing. The s aft 37 is provided with a gear wheel 37? ad'acent thereto, which meshes with a gear w eel 44 carried by the shaft 45 of the said wheels 35. The said latter shaft finds journal hearings in suitable portions of the framin By this construction the two sets of fe wheels 35 and 38 are driven in apposite directions to each other as is requir At the o posite end of the casing from i the feed w eels 35 and 36 is a discharge mechanism; comprising an inclined conveyer 46 made up of sprocket chains 47, carried by sprocket whee s 48 and 49 mounted upon transverse shafts 50 and 51 journaled at their ends in the casing. One end of the shaft 50 projects outside the casing a suflicient distance to receive asprocket chain 52 which colmeets the same with a sprocket wheel 53 mounted upon a short shaft 54. The short draft 54 projects through the adiacent wall of the casing 10 and carries inside on same a sprocket wheel 55 arranged immediately above the upper lap of one of the sprocket chains 16 so as to engage the same and as driven thereby. In this manner movement is communicated to the shaft 50 and to the traveling discharge conveyer. Ad' cent to the conveyer are 'guideways 56 an 57 which direct the cans as they are carried upwardly by said conveyer from the interior of the machine. At the lower end of the conveyer, openings are provided in the spiral guide bars 18, sufficient breaks being left in said spiral guide bars to permit of the cans traveling upon the flat bars 20 beneath them. being elevated and passed into the discharge conveyor. Normally th'ese openings are closed by means of slides 58 which have ofi'set portions 59 extending still farther into the machine and having guide slots 60 and 61 engaging limiting bolts 62 and 63. These slides are located moved toward the discharge end of the machine cover the pathways of the cans When they are withdrawn the pathway of one or more of the rows of cans may be exposed at the top and by the use of suitable lifting means the cans can be directed into the discharge conveyer. Levers 64: pivoted upon a transverse shaft 65 are employed for reciprocating said slides, their lower ends having forked portions engaging transverse ins 66. secured to the said slides, while t eir upper ends extend out through an opening 67 in the top of the casing. A housing. 68 protects the said opening and receives the upper end of said levers and thrust bars 69 extend inwardly beneath said housin and have a pivotal connection with said levers 64 whereby they may be operated from the outside of the machine for setting the slides.

Beneath the openings or interrupted p0r tions of the spiral guide bars 18 are located a series of can lifting arms 70 and 71 which are journaled upon a transverse shaft 72 mounted in the casing. Collars 73 and 74 secured to the shaft 72 hold the said lifting arms in proper spaced condition upon the said shaft 72. Every other arm, as for instance the arms 71;. are provided with lever Jrojections 75, which extend beyond the sha t 72. Below the arms -70 and 71 extends another transverse shaft 76 having at suitable' intervals thereon spurs 77, carried by hubs 78 which are keyed upon the said shaft 76. The successive spurs mounted upon'the saidshaft 76 are set at desired angles for raising the lifting arms 70. which are needed for discharging the cans from the machine at the desired point. The said spurs 77 preferably extend from the hubs in a tangential manner and have their outer ends rounded at 7 9 so as to facilitate their easy movementin lifting the said arms 70. The intermediate arms '71 may also belifted when desired by means of a series of spurs 80 carried by hubs 81 which are keyed upon a third transverse shaft 82 arranged parallel with the shafts 72 and 76. The said spurs 80 are shaped like the spurs 77 and are adapted to bee r upon the upper surface of the levers; when one of the arms 71 is to be raised. By providing the two shafts 76 and the spurs need not be secured so closely together in the machine and the action of either set of spurs will accomplish the lifting of either the arms 70 or the arms 71 as desired. Lifting arms are provided for every space between the spiral guiding bars l3 so that the cans within the machine may be caused to pass therefrom at any point across the. width of the machine, and in accordance with the time which it was desired to keep the canned goods within the cooker.

The shafts 76 and 81 extend through the side walls of the casing 10 upon one side of the machine and are provided with hand wheels 83 and 81 by which they may be blll'IlEXl for lifting the desired arms and 71. Each of said wheels is provided with a pin 85, which may he thrust into apertures 86, upon a ring projection adjacent thereto on the wall of the casing 10. By setting the pins in any of said apertures after the wheels have been turned, the lifting arms 70 and 71 will be positively held in adjusted positions.

When the desired lifting arms have been adjusted and the slides 58 correspondingly adjusted. the cans in the line beneath which the arms 70 or Tl have been lifted will. upon engaging the inclined surface of said arms, be driven upwardly through the openings in the guide bars 18 and upon the inclined guides 56. There they will be engaged by transverse slats or bars 87 carried by the chains of the conveyor l6 and caused to roll upwardly upon said guides fi l. The conveyer l6 inclosed by a housing lib which forms an cxtension of the cover of the casing lo and which is provided with a discharge opening 89 extending the full width of the machine.

Curved track sections 90 are movably mounted opposite the discharge openings 89. their inner ends being adapted to rest upon the adjacent edge of the casing 11) while their outer ends rest upon transverse tracks 91 and 92. seen in Fig. 3. two lines of cans are being discharged from the machine. one set of cans being lifted by the convoyer and being allowed to roll outwardly upon the track sections 90 to the track 91. These cans have of course not been left in the cooker a great while. The other cans being discharged have been carried the entire way through the coi'iker and thus allowed to cook a very much longer time and are being discharged upon the track 92.

It will be understood from the above description that the cans could be discharged from any point transvcrscly of the spiral can way by iminipulating the slides .38 and the lifting arms 70 and 71. so as to lift the cans from the guiding and supporting tracks at any point upon the spiral mechanism thereof and by also moving the curved track sections 90 opposite the lifting arms that ham been elevated.

As heretofore observed the machine illns tratcd in the drawing is adapted to receive two set of articles -10 be cooked. entering in a parallel manner between two adjacent sets of spiral can ways. These travel side by side but the line of cans which contains goods which does not need to be coohcd so long the other. discharged first and the other is permitted to travel through the mechanism as long as The casing Hi p' Water so to coin; v cans. may he steam any suitable lie-t, while they are traveling upon the guiding and supporting rails and the Water is heated to any desired degree for accomplishing the cooking operation, the heat being usually introducaed by "means of a heating coil the flared portions of which extend back and forth lengthwisefof the casing 10 between the laps of the conveyor 16. Steam or other heat may be introduced in said coil in any preferred manner. The ends of the shafts l3 and 51 are preferably mountedcin adjustable journal bearings 96 and 97 by which any slackness in the conveyers may be taken up.

The operation of the device will be readily understood in connection with the above description. The cans of material to be passed through the machine are delivered to the coi'iveyer 27. usually in parallel rows, and will he admitted into the casing one by one by the action of the wheels and 37. 'llicy will drop from said wheelsinto the water within the casing and will he moved forwardly by the next cross bar 17 carried by the chains 16. The proper lifting arms 70 or T1 are then adjusted to cause the cans to pass out of the machine at the'desired point. the curved track sections 90 being set opposite the guide tracks where the. said lifting le ers have been raised. The proper slides 55 have also been opened operating the lcvcrs 6%). The device needs no furtheir attention and any desired amount of the goods may be fed continuously through the machine. the articles which are to be cooked a short time being separated and directed out of the machine earlier than those which are to he cooked longer. The rolling of the cans upon thc spiral guidway within the machine insures a thorough cooking of the matcrials therein:

What I claim is:

l An automatic cooker. ciiiiuprising a casmg. a guide-way mounted thcrcin. a pro-- peller for 7111)}l1iQ' canned go ds along said guide-way. and means for autmnaiically de liveriug the cooked "oods therefrom at a given point. in accordance with the time required for cooking the materials.

'2. .\n automatic co ltcr for canned goods. comprising a casing having spirally arranged guiding and supporting acks mounted therein. a convcycr having transverse slats extending across aid guides and tracks: for advancing the goods thcrcoi'l. means fol introducing goods upon said guide ways. and means foi delivering the goods therefrom at a 3srcilctcrmincd point.

l. .tn automatic c ohciwith spiral can ways for canned goods omprising a casing having a guiding track therein. a conveyer made up of chains having cross connecting propeller slats, adapted to engage thicanned oods upon said guiding tract; means for delivering the canned goo.

change of the therefrom at any desired point, and means for heating the contents of the casing of the machine.'

. lifting the goods from the conveyor at any desired point opposite the outlet of the machine, and guides for directing the goods from said outlet.

5. An automatic cooker, comprising a casing having an entrance opening at one end and a discharge opening at the other end, the said discharge opening extending the full Width of the casing, means for introducing canned goods to be cooked into the em trance opening, a conveyer mountedthere- 7 in, means for guiding the canned goods as it is propelled by said conveyer, and adjustable means capable of discharging the goods at any point along the spiral can way, whereby some goods may be allowed to remain in the cooker longer than other goods for accomplishing the cooking of the same to a proper degree.

6. An automatic cooker comprising a casing adapted to hold a fluid cooking agent, an inclined guide way for directing canned goods into said casing, the casing having an opening in the top thereof for receiving the same, coiiperating socketed feed Wheels adapted to introduce the cans into the mechanism one at a time, transverse bars mounted in the said casing, spiral guiding bars.

formed of T irons mounted upon said transverse bars, and adapted to guide canned goods within the casing, the said angle bars in the lowerpart of the machine also op erating as supporting bars, inner longitudinal bgrs carried by the said transverse bars and supporting the canned goods part of the way, the angle bars being interrupted for a portion of their length near the discharge end of the machine, upwardly inclined bars leading from said interrupted portions of i the angle bars to the discharge end of the machine, a conveyer for carrying the canned goods up the same toa discharge opening in the end of the machine, pivoted levers mounted below said openings, means for raising the said levers for lifting the cans sothat they may pass out of the spiral can Ways of the machine, and adjustable means for operating said lifting levers.

7. An automatic cooker, comprising a casing adapted to contain a fluid, a heating coil arranged Within said casing for heating said water, spiral guiding and supporting rails surrounding said heating coil, a propeller also surrounding said heating coil and operating in conjunction With said guiding and supporting means for advancing canned goods to the machine, the said spiral guide rails having openings in their length 'levers being operable for directing the cooked materials out of the cooker, slides for closing the openings in said spiral guide rails where the canned goods are not being delivered, and levers for operating said slides.

8. In apparatus for treating packaged goods the combination of a cooking chamber, a package-way therein, means for moving packages along said way, and means for discharging packages from the way at different points to vary the length of travel of the packages in said chamber.

9. In apparatus for treating packaged goods the combination of a cooking chamber, a package-Way therein, means for movmg packages 'along said way, means for 10. In a can cooking apparatus the combination of a substantially closed cooking chamber through which the cans are moved,

means for moving a plurality of series of cans through said chamber, and means' for independently varying the length of travel of the cans in the respective series in said chamber.

11. In apparatus for treating packaged goods, the combination of a cdoking chamber, a plurality of package-ways therein, means for simultaneously moving the packages along the ways, and means for varying the length of travel of the packages in any package-way.

12. In apparatus for treating packaged goods etc., the combination of a cooking chamber, means for simultaneously moving a plurality of series of cans through said chamber, and means for varying at will the length of travel of the cans in any series in said chamber.

13. In a can cooking apparatus the combination of a substantially closed cooking ing at will the length of travel of the sails 111 each Way.

In apparatus for Heating paella goods Gij. the combinuiiun of chamhezu r N 'l'mi series of p:

hag-es p l- 'ngth 0% means for Varying at mill wave; the mum in math mu hin #111? travel 0f the pal-laws in =21: vhzunhei ml) l5 22 (5cm ll. the packages in the sex'eramay be: 2-). 21 um cnolilhg apparatus the comwaused to travel 302' the same 01'- llill'erent hlnnlion of a mzhslnnlally closed cooking distances 1n the chamber; Chamber, a phuhlity of parallel can ways 15. In "an Cooking the coml'ainntinn of a m Saul chamhe". means lol snnultanecusly substantially closed cooking chmnhmz 111M119. shaving (-qns: along, "nah Ways: means for for guldmg and monng a pimxaht c 0f pmfwihng *ans in e-w h was independent allel series 01 ("ans llllfUiW'll said slumber. mmihs fol ii-l from each wnv.

and adjustable means or lndepundenllv sail; discharge 'mmhaihgj inllenemlenlly hvermg the cans in Brush tlw 3m lvngil; at travel cans in the several l ll to un as: (1&-

ilz'avel for the same or "Gilli \llSIZUMQS in the mamher.

16. In an fo pas hlmr: of

appum: Quads the a 51 aged gwdsnnd the li I :1. v m1 tlmimgh x im the penile-ye" a? a choking; chamber. a whin moved, 1 u -lmgi=je mn'im' Within the chnm' her, means for moving 1") hmzzlml means for varying-1% vi 2 leleng'h way, means for fe- Way and means l0 from said way said all adjustnhlv s to nu of the cans in sa'hlchamber l'fl, yro elllng 17. In an nppul'm fut the W21 and different points in the A tn lengthen or mien the limu uizeal l'm cooking the nmteriul cunfiuihml iii the packages.

in Witness 3%" i l claim ihe fmcgcing I have hereunm mhswibml my name: this th JUL}. was,

aged goods and the UM, th a cooking vhmnbel' 1.1'IvlL-11i'l .Jaid chamber, means for hmving p: along said Ways, means 101 feeding packa es to said *ays, and lnclepenclem means for dis charging packages fr t m each Way, saic charge means being adju' able so as to mrv u the length of rave-l of the cans in s chamber.

18. In a can cooking appara? nation of 2 substantially closed BAKER,

1e: a5 @1222: atentma b: slammed fer fivs aent we h addm sirfigg 2m fismmisziarler i mums.

- Washiugism, I G, 

